Sparks of Fire
This fanfic belongs to Peak! Please do not steal, edit, or copy any of the content/characters/ideas. This is a''' MAJOR work in progress. Mild swear warning?? ---- ~Characters~ *Will-O-Wisp *Beam *Queen Supernal *Princess Expanse *Princess Violet *Zenith ---- |-|Part One = '''Chapter One: The NightWing The marketplace was bright and busy. Hums of trade filled the gaps between the cooking meat and occasional shouts of anger from both merchants and customers alike. Will-O-Wisp leaned lazily on one of the posts of her stand, her tail draped across a closed crate of fireworks. She'd been here since dawn, waiting for a buyer, a thief, someone to drop in by her stand and give her a reason to talk. "My, my, what do we have here?" Wisp's half-closed eyes flew open at the unexpected arrival. A burly NightWing stood in front of her, fingering some of the smaller firecrackers on display. "Those are some of my smaller firecrackers," Wisp replied. "The ones on the right take longer to explode and therefore can get to a higher altitude before going off, while the ones on the left take less time to explode and are mostly used as party tricks. Their burst isn't as big as the ones on the right for safety reasons, I'd hate having to get sued, but they're just as colorful. If you can't afford them, I'll see if you can talk me down to a reasonable lower price, but y'know, not too low, I still gotta make, a profit..." Wisp trailed off and shut her mouth. The NightWing was now looking at her with a curious gleam in his eye as if she were one of the fireworks in front of him. She gulped. "Ah, yes, well, you see, I have this... party ''to attend this weekend, and I was wondering if you would be so kind as to come with me." He leaned on the wooden counter in front of her and eyed her earrings. Wisp's talons twitched and she slowly reached down to a crate by her foot, casting her eyes downward to avoid his shifty gaze. "I'm sorry, sir, but I ''really ''can't come. I have a lot of clients to deliver products to this weekend and -" She was cut off abruptly as the NightWing slammed his fist on the counter. The fireworks rattled and swung from the beam above. "That wasn't a question," he replied, standing up. Quick as a flash, Wisp struck a match and lit one of the smaller poppers in her other talon. The NightWing's eyes grew wide as he watched her actions. Almost in slow motion, he backed up and started running. She lobbed the popper after him and it hit him in the back. The fuse went out and the popper exploded in different shades of green and blue. Dragons ducked as colorful sparks whizzed through the air and died in showers of light. She watched the NightWing retreat through the pandemonium without looking back and smiled grimly to herself. ''Not my first time, ''she thought. ---- '''Chapter Two: The Guard' "That was close," Will-O-Wisp mumbled, tossing two extra poppers back into the crate by her feet. She ignored the dirty glances thrown at her stand and started rearranging the now-disorganized fireworks. A second later, she was interrupted by a small RainWing dragonet running excitedly up to her stand. "Can I have one, Gramma?" the dragonet begged as an older, breathless, and very red RainWing ran up to the little one. "Please?" I'm so sorry! ''the older RainWing mouthed at Wisp. Wisp nodded in return, not bothered at all. "Sorry, sweetheart. We're only here to get fruit today." the RainWing took the little dragonet's claw and gently tugged her away. Rebelliously, the dragonet dug her talons into the counter, leaving small gauge marks in the wood. "It's fine, it's fine!" Wisp said quickly before the grandmother could protest. She reached to a jar on the side and pulled out a few poppers, much smaller than the one she'd thrown at the creepy NightWing. The little dragonet gasped and held out her claws. Wisp dropped them into her open palms and launched into a quick explanation, noticing the older RainWing's curious glance. "These are my smaller poppers," Wisp explained. "You saw a display of one of the bigger ones a few seconds ago. However, these don't need a match to be lit. All you have to do is simply throw them against the ground and they'll pop!" The dragonet turned and chucked the clawful at the white brick road and a large volley of ''pop! pop! pop! ''was heard across the road. "Do they come in different colors?" the grandmother asked. Will-O-Wisp nodded. "Those are my colorless ones, even though they pop in a peach color, I've noticed. I have others that pop in almost every color of the rainbow, except for black, grey, and blue." "Can we ''please ''get some?" the dragonet begged. The grandmother's eyes glanced from the jar of poppers to the dragonet, and then back. "Oh, alright," she said, finally giving in to her granddaughter's puppy eyes. Wisp smiled. As the grandmother searched through her coin pouch to pay her, Wisp caught the eye of a sleek red SkyWing dressed in the attire of a high-ranking guard from the Sky Kingdom. She quickly ducked her head and forced herself to pay attention to the RainWings. ''Please hurry, please hurry, please hurry! ''Wisp thought impatiently. By now, the guard was towering over the RainWings and almost breathing down the older one's neck. Glaring at the guard, the grandmother handed over the coins, took her pouch of poppers, and lead the dragonet away. "How may I help you?" Wisp asked, putting on the most sincere smile she could muster. By the way his polished armor gleamed in the sun, she could tell he was from a city close to the palace, if not from the palace itself. Black bear fur covered the gaps between the fancy plating on his shoulders and around his neck, covering as much of his scales as possible without making it too hot in the humidity of the Mud Kingdom. The guard slapped a scroll down on her counter, startling her out of her analysis. Wisp's heart sank; was he a tax collector? Not a guard? "I've already paid my taxes for the week," Wisp grumbled to him. "I'm not a tax collector," the SkyWing snarled. ''Oh sure, fancy furs, ''Wisp snapped in her thoughts. "This is from Queen Supernal." Willow paused and looked back up at the guard. "What?" she replied, not quite believing what she had just heard. "''This is from Queen Supernal," the guard snarled again. "Please read it and have a response ready in the next two days. I'll check back tomorrow morning and the morning after." Wisp nodded vigorously. He glared down haughtily at her and she was instantly reminded of her hatred towards his tribe. "Don't disappoint her." The SkyWing turned and trotted back through the crowd. Wisp's eyes followed him for as long as they could and went back to the scroll as she watched him disappear into a pub. "Don't disappoint her," she said mockingly. "Oh, okay. So the next time I see her I'll make sure I'll be on my best ''behavior." Wisp turned and swept the fireworks off of a small bamboo table settled among stacks of crates that served as chairs. A few loose miniature poppers fell off and set off small bursts of yellow and red. Wisp slapped the heavy scroll down on the table. She quickly returned to the counter and put up her "On a break" sign, angry at how this insufferable SkyWing was making her lose customers. On a day like today! When the weather was nice and dragons were out and about shopping for things they didn't need. "You know what, no!" Wisp growled to herself. "I'm not letting the queen of those... those... ''thieves ''ruin a sale." She took down the sign and returned to watching the street, thoughts of the scroll quickly leaving her mind and making room for new barterers and customers that stopped by her stand. ---- '''Chapter Three: The Scroll' Will-O-Wisp sat down in a huff of anger. Her half-eaten meal stood cold in front of her and Lia was rubbing against her arm looking for attention. The scroll from the guard danced between her talons. The small flame icon was red with wax, sealing it together. If she gave it back to the guard unread, he would probably have her arrested for some crazy offense if it truly was from the queen. If she handed it back to him with the seal broken, he'd knew she'd read it and still probably have her arrested even if she'd peacefully signed the No thank you ''line. Wisp considered burning it but quickly caught herself before reaching for her matches, which were never far from her talons. "I can't believe I'm actually considering reading something from the queen," Wisp huffed, "and she's not even the queen of my own tribe! She's the ruler of those ''greedy SkyWings ''who only want money, money, money! Taxes on their imports are high enough already! Why would she want anything to do with me anyway? I'm just an insignificant little LightWing!" Wisp paused at her own words as they sank in. ''Okay, maybe there is something going on. ''she realized. ''She wants something from ''me, ''who's a much lower ranking than her, let alone from another ''tribe. "Which is exactly why she's not getting my help!" Wisp burst out, standing up suddenly and flinging the scroll across the room. It hit the wall with a dull ''THUD! ''and landed on a pillow-chair. Her otter, Lia, scampered over to it and sniffed it excitedly. "If Zenith was real, then his reasoning behind destroying the fireworks recipe was totally valid! I'm not about to let the ''royals ''have it! Nevermind that they're starting to slowly encroach into bordering SandWing territory! I've seen the reports of fights and riots in the border towns!" ''Thank the stars that it didn't happen in Greatrun, ''she added internally, thinking of Beam. A knot of worry suddenly formed in her stomach. ''He better be okay. ''Wisp sighed and picked up the scroll again, examining the seal. "It wouldn't hurt to read this," Wisp muttered to herself. "Would it?" ~~ When she finished it, Will-O-Wisp secretly wished she ''had ''burned it or lost it or not even opened it. Her eyes drifted back over the short and concise message. ''Dear Will-O-Wisp of the LightWings, It has come to our attention that you have re-created the recipe for blastpowder and are now using it to sell fireworks at your local market. We, the SkyWings of the royal palace, have been wondering if you would like to meet us in the Palace City to discuss a possible trade agreement between us. You will be compensated heartily for your goods and cooperation. Sincerely, Queen Supernal and King Ensky "I can't even justify my own hatred towards this tribe!" Will-O-Wisp hollered to the empty house. "They haven't done anything bad to me, directly ''at least, and now they're offering me their business! ''Compensated heartily ''too! But I don't even know if I can trust them! They're liars, all liars and thieves, their whole tribe!" Wisp shredded part of the scroll between her talons. ''Great. Now when I say that I've forgotten it at my house two days from now and they search it, they'll see that I really ''have read it. Wisp screamed in frustration and slammed the scroll down her table. Lia hissed and jumped away. "Sorry Lia-girl!" Wisp cooed, immediately regretting her previous action. She reached out to her otter, who climbed into her arms. "Momma's just mad at a bunch of stuck-up SkyWings tonight." Wisp bounced her otter in her arms and walked into her room, figuring that maybe she just needed to sleep on it. ---- 'Chapter Four: A Letter''' |-|Part Two = WIP |-|Part Three = WIP Category:Fanfictions Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete) Category:Fanfictions (Fanon) Category:Content (PeaktheIceWing18)